CARY, N.C.—Lord Corp. has been awarded a two-year contract from Boeing Co. for an Improved Vibration Control System to be used on Boeing's CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
The company received a purchase order for the patented system in September 2013 and completed a preliminary design review in January, according to the firm.
Production will begin in 2016. Financial details were not disclosed.
The contract expands the breadth of Lord's product offerings that are aimed at reducing vibration in the helicopter fuselage generated by the rotor system, according to Stuart Hartwell, business development manager for Lord Global Aerospace & Defense. “This IVCS equipment provides state-of-the-art performance and represents a major upgrade to the legacy vibration suppression system on this aircraft As a leader in active vibration control technology, Lord is expanding our business footprint at a critical time in the aviation industry.”
Lord IVCS is a system that controls steady state and transient vibration, the company said. The system operates through the use of accelerometers that measure aircraft vibration levels.
Signals are sent to a centralized computer that runs a software algorithm that interprets data and sends commands to force generators located under the pilot seats, the company said.
The force generators create anti-vibration that stops the progression of vibration due to the main rotor and creates a more comfortable vibration environment for the aircraft, the firm said.
Lord has provided Boeing with vibration control productions for more than 50 years, according to Bill Cerami, president of Lord Aerospace and Defense. He said the company also supplies various aerospace components such as vibration isolators, mounts and HCL bearings to Boeing Defense, Space & Security for the CH47 Chinook, AH-64 Apache and V-22 Osprey.